Managing Energy vs. Managing Time

The new article from the Harvard Business Review entitled "Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time" explores the science of stamina, which has advanced to the point where individuals, teams, and whole organizations can, with some straightforward interventions, significantly increase their capacity to get things done.

Check out this HBR article now, (while it's still free!)

Top Small Business Workplaces 2007

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the "Top Small Workplaces 2007," in which they teamed up with Winning Workplaces, an Evanston, Ill., nonprofit that helps small and midsize companies create better work environments, to spotlight 15 Top Small Workplaces.

Common themes among these businesses?

• These small businesses tend to let employees at all levels make key decisions, and they groom their future leaders from within.
• They offer generous traditional and untraditional benefits (how about a six-week sabbatical?).
• They constantly hunt for new ways to improve the employee experience or engage employees.

According to the article, "many share a sizable slice of their profits with employees, teaching them to read company financial statements so they grasp how their job is connected to the success of the organization."

BOTTOMLINE: While teaching employees how to read financial statements can be a good idea, it's more important for each person to understand how their daily activities connect to the goals of the organization. That's one of the key focuses of the Six Disciplines business excellence program.

Getting The Most Out Of Business Books

Listen to this 10 minute Six Disciplines founder and CEO Gary Harpst as he is interviewed on Biz Magazine Radio on the topic "Getting The Most Out Of Business Books."

Six Disciplines Centers - On FranchiseGator

If you've been following our blog, you're familiar with the Six Disciplines Methodology, as described in the top-selling book, "Six Disciplines for Excellence."

What you may not be familiar with, is our method of service delivery, which is the Six Disciplines Center.

Six Disciplines Centers offer a comprehensive business excellence service that combines a systematic business-building methodology, practical Internet technologies, and local coaching to help the best performing organizations to pursue enduring excellence.

Six Disciplines Centers are offered as premiere business services franchises throughout the United States. Six Disciplines Center franchises are now operating and helping top-performing organizations to achieve lasting excellence in:

• Findlay, OH
• Tampa, FL
• Cleveland, OH
• Cincinnati, OH
• Columbus, OH
• Indianapolis, IN
• Raleigh, NC

...and very soon coming to Atlanta!

For more information, see the profile of Six Disciplines Centers on one of the top Franchise Portals, FranchiseGator.com.

For additional information about Six Disciplines Leadership Centers, contact Scott May.

Gary Harpst Interviewed on Small Business Advocate Radio

Last Friday, Gary Harpst was interviewed by Jim Blasingame, host of the Small Business Advocate radio program, on the topic of "Business Excellence"

Go here and listen to their 9/28/07 interview, or download the MP3 here.

Execution Is All That Matters

Serial entrepreneur Wil Schroter brings this article on "You can’t protect a good idea" - and it all comes down to EXECUTION.

While great companies can benefit from good ideas, they require superior execution.

Wil's advice:

• There's a simple and effective way to protect your idea from the world -- focus on actually executing on the business plan. It’s rare that a company loses to its competitors because they “stole the idea” and somehow instantly created a huge company with it.
• If your idea is good, it will be stolen.
• If your idea has a "secret sauce" - simply explain what the product does, not how it does it.

BOTTOMLINE: "A good entrepreneur believes not only in themselves, but also in their ability to execute better than anyone else to turn the smart idea into a great company. Ideas are a dime a dozen -- execution is ultimately what matters."

New Six Disciplines Web Site

Check out the newly revamped web site for Six Disciplines!

While you're there, make sure to view some of the Customer Stories, and see for yourself why a growing number of already successful organizations are adopting the Six Disciplines program for enduring business excellence.

Leadership: It's Not About You

The minute you transform from being a task-oriented professional to being a manager of people, it stops being about your individual talents, your successes, and starts being all about coaching, motivating, teaching, supporting, removing roadblocks, and finding resources for your employees.

At that point, leadership is not about you. It’s about the people who work for you.

Leadership is about celebrating their victories and rewarding them; helping them analyze when things don’t go to plan.

Read all about it from this article from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Are You Ready for Change?

For most business book readers, the concept of change is intriguing, even attractive. At least the concepts must hold some interest for you.

The most important question to ask yourself is "How ready are you -- and your organization - for this type of challenge?"

Here's a simple checklist of things to think through to gauge your readiness:

• Is there a hunger for quality, excellence and continual improvement?
• Do you "get" the difference between working on your business - and working in your business?
• Is your organization of sufficient size to understand the challenges that growth brings?
• Does your organization have a high trust culture?
• Is your business stable - decent balance sheet, not running from one crisis to another?
• Does your organization use technology effectively - and strategically?
• Do you value the advice from outside experts?

BOTTOMLINE: If you're ready for change, contact a Six Disciplines Center near you. By adopting the Six Disciplines business excellence program, you'll transform your organization into a place where the leadership team becomes expert at setting the vision for the company and engaging people in the pursuit of that vision.

Emory University Reviews Six Disciplines for Excellence

The Goizueta Business School of Emory University, in conjunction with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has published their review of "Six Disciplines for Excellence."

Some excerpts:

"Six Disciplines is clearly, concisely and engagingly written. Its ideas are not new, but they are not meant to be."

"..author Harpst has distilled the best advice he’s found in popular business books that promote strategic thinking by business leaders, and has created clusters of routine activities, or disciplines, for leaders to follow. The goal: Turn strategic thinking into strategic action."


Read their entire review here. (ID and password required)

Ready for Q4?

Q3 is almost over.....

Did you meet your quarterly goals?

Are you still on track to meet your annual goals?

James Sagar over at Marketing M.O. provides a great list of things to do (even if you're not in marketing!)

BOTTOMLINE: If you were working from an Individual Plan (IP) as described in Discipline IV. Work the Plan, you'd know exactly where you were toward meeting your goals.

What Differentiates Growth Champions From The Rest

The Mercer Delta Consulting firm looked at the 10 practices that statistically differentiated "growth champions" from all other companies.

It found that growth champions:

(For the sake of continuity, the appropriate discipline from Six Disciplines for Excellence has been inserted)

• Were very clear about their markets or businesses and where growth will come from. (Discipline I-C Renew Strategic Position)
• Articulated clear profit models that were well understood by managers and focused the whole business on a few initiatives. (Discipline I-E Define Vital Few Objectives)
• Engaged in the disciplined execution of growth initiatives at all levels of the organization and translated customer insights into new offerings and/or business improvements.
• Maintained strong metrics/feedback to identify what was or wasn't working. (Discipline IV-E Monitor Measures)
• Made effective trade-off decisions about which opportunities to invest in (Discipline V - Innovate Purposefully)
• Ensured there was sustained alignment of their leaders and actions to support growth strategies (Discipline III-F Align People)
• Built on their leaders' capabilities to grow the company from within (Discipline VI-D Review Individuals)

BOTTOMLINE: What set growth champions apart was their ability to implement (execute) these business practices in conjunction with one another and to pursue the practices with a greater level of intensity. The growth champions implement these key practices in a systematic way.

(Thanks to our friends at Management-Issues for the tip)

What Are Six Disciplines Clients Looking To Solve - Video

Watch this short video as Six Disciplines CEO and founder Gary Harpst explains "What Are Six Disciplines Clients Looking to Solve?"

During the interview, Harpst talks about the challenges that companies have as they decide to adopt the Six Disciplines business excellence program.

Who Is Six Disciplines For - Video

Watch this short video as Six Disciplines CEO and founder Gary Harpst explains "Who are the Customers for Six Disciplines?"

During the interview, Harpst talks about the kinds of organizations that are ready and able to adopt the Six Disciplines business excellence program.

Management Training and Leadership Development

Most American businesses don't understand the difference between management training and leadership development, and wrongly believe the answer to middle manager shortages is simply to throw money at the problem.

As reported by Management-Issues, a recent Bersin study found that more than half of American businesses say they are facing leadership shortages, primarily at the mid-management and director level -- yet often do not know what to do about it.

Other findings:

• Four out of 10 firms put leadership development programs in place simply because they are desperate to plug this shortage of internal leadership candidates.
• The best leadership programs need to be guided right from the top and not solely led by the training and development side of the business.

Bersin found that most organisations still confuse management training with leadership development. More than a third of companies outsourced at least half of the content of their leadership development programs. Just over a tenth – 13 per cent – kept all their programs in-house.

BOTTOMLINE: There is a big difference between management training and leadership development. "To be successful, the best leadership programs need to be guided right from the top and not solely led by the training and development side of the business. Successful initiatives must have strong internal executive sponsorship and engagement."

Gary Harpst Speaks on High Performing Organizations

Gary Harpst, founder and CEO of Six Disciplines, LLC, recently spoke to the Toledo Area Small Business Association (TASBA), on the topic of "Five Secrets of High Performing Organizations."

Thanks go to WTVG-Channel 13 Toledo (an ABC affiliate) which covered the event.

Here's a quick look at the event from their perspective.

How is Six Disciplines Delivered - Video

Watch this short video as Six Disciplines CEO and founder Gary Harpst explains "How is the Six Disciplines program delivered?"

During the interview, Harpst talks about the delivery of the Six Disciplines program through a growing nationwide network of local business excellence centers.

CEO Confidence Hits All-Time Low

According to a Q3 2007 Vistage CEO Confidence Index by Vistage International, CEO confidence has hit an all time low since their research began in 2003.

Key findings:

• Chief executives of small- and mid-sized businesses are becoming increasingly concerned about the turmoil in financial markets and the effects it may have on their businesses.
• The concern is not only about the economy, but also about the availability and cost of credit to their companies.
• Because of this, executives plan to put some of their planned investments on hold for the remainder of the year.
• One-third of all firms noted finding and retaining qualified staff is still the most significant problem they face.

BOTTOMLINE: Overall, the survey indicates business leaders expect a slowdown, but not a turndown in the economy. Companies still expect strong growth in their revenues, and have no plans to cut payroll. Just like the prior quarter, recruiting and retaining talent is the most important challenge executives face, although uncertainty about the economy may also slow hiring.

What Makes Six Disciplines Different - Video

Watch this short video as Six Disciplines CEO and founder Gary Harpst explains "What Makes Six Disciplines Different?"

During the interview, Harpst refers to other improvement programs (Covey, Baldrige, Six Sigma) and how Six Disciplines differs from the rest.

What Is Six Disciplines - Video

Watch this short video with Six Disciplines CEO and founder Gary Harpst, as he describes "What Is Six Disciplines?"